Critical Chain Project Management

A Brief Overview

Critical Chain Project Management was developed and publicized by Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt in 1997. Followers of this methodology of Project Management claim it to be an alternative to the established standard of Project Management as advocated by PMBOK® and other Standards of Project Management. This article attempts to provide a brief overview of the Principals of Critical Chain Project Management and its applicability to manage Projects across all organizations and verticals.

The Critical Chain Method has its roots in another one of Dr. Goldratt’s inventions viz. The Theory of Constraints (TOC). This Project Management Method comes into force after the initial Project Schedule is prepared, which includes establishment of the task dependencies. The evolved Critical path is reworked based on the Critical Chain Method. To do so, the methodology suggests and assumes constraints related to each task. A few of them are elaborated as under.

• There is a certain amount of uncertainty in each task 
• The task Durations are overestimated by the Team Members or Task Owners. This is typically done to add a safety margin to the task so as to be certain of its completion in the decided duration.
• In most cases, the tasks should not take the time estimated, which includes the safety margin, and should be completed earlier.
• If the Safety Margin assumed is not needed, it is actually wasted. If the task completes earlier, it may not necessarily mean that the successor task can start earlier as the resources required for the successor task are not available until their schedule time. Hence the saved time cannot be passed on to finish the Project early. On the other hand, if there are delays over and above the estimated schedules, these delays will most definitely get passed on, and in most of the cases, will exponentially increase the Project Schedule.

With the above assumptions, the Critical Path Methodology of Project Management recommends pooling of the task buffers and adding them at the end of the Critical path

The Critical Path Project Management defines 3 types of Buffers

1. Project Buffer -  The total pooled buffer shown above(Fig 1.1) is referred to as the Project Buffer.
2. Feeding Buffer - In a Project Network there are path/s which feed into the Critical path. The pooled buffer on each such path represents the Feeding Buffer to the Critical Path(Fig1.2) resulting in providing some slack to the critical Path.
3. Resource Buffer- This is a virtual task inserted just prior to critical chain tasks that require critical resources. This acts as a trigger point for the resource indicating when the critical path is about to start.

As the Progress of the Project is reported the Critical Chain is recalculated. In fact, monitoring and controlling of the Project primarily focuses on utilization of the Buffers. Hence the Critical Chain Method, takes in the basic Critical Path based Project Network and Schedule and derives a completely new Schedule.

The Critical Path Project Management Methodology proves to be very effective in organizations, which do not have evolved Project Management Practices. Also, it is seen that the methodology does not advocate multi-tasking and hence in Projects with complex Schedule Networks, the results of implementing the Critical path Methodology have proven to be deterrent to the overall Project Schedule. Additionally, there is no standard method which has evolved for calculating and optimizing the Project Buffers. The Critical Path Project Management Methodology has had a fair amount of success in manufacturing domains though it has not achieved any noteworthy success in the IT Sector.

Similarly in lines with the principals of Critical Chain Methodology, the Event Chain Methodology of Project Management focuses on determining the uncertain events and the chain Reactions they propagate. It is a method of modelling uncertainties and is based on Monte Carlo Analysis, Bayesian Believe Network and other established simulation methodologies. Events when occurred can cause other events triggering an Even Chain, which will effectively alter the course of the Project. Events and Event Chains are identified and a Quantitative Analysis is performed to determine the extent of the uncertainty and the probable impact of the same on the Project. From this exercise, Critical Event Chains are evolved which have the potential to cause the most impact on the Project. Event Chain diagrams are visual representation of the Event and Event Chains and their impact.

It is clear that, neither the Critical Path Project Management Methodology nor the Event Chain Methodology can be considered as alternatives to the standard Methodology for project Management as advocated by PMBOK®. While the Critical Path Project Management Methodology can be at best used as a tool for deriving Project Schedule networks, the Event Chain Methodology for Project Management can be used as a tool for Quantitative Risk Analysis.

A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge

PMBOK – The Bible for Project Managers

The Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge, generally referred to as PMBOK®, is the single most authentic resource for learning Project Management.  For prospective PMPs, PMBOK® is the Bible, which they cannot do without, if they hope to clear the exam and become an accredited PMP®.

The Project Management Guide, which is an internationally recognized Standard (IEEE, ANSI), is used as a reference for most of the professional development programs based on Project Management.  Various institutes and institutions offer Professional Courses on Project Management.  The curriculum designed is largely based on the Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge i.e the PMBOK® and other Project Management books and Standards advocated by the Project Management Institute PMI®. The PMI® is the world’s largest not-for-profit organization for Project Management. It serves the Project Management community through its various initiatives, where advocating the Best Practices in Project, Program and Portfolio Management is in the forefront. The PMI® has regularly updated the PMBOK®. The first edition was actually published by the PMI® as a white paper in the year 1983. The Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge is now in its 5th edition released recently in 2013.

The Project Management Guide represents the SUM total of knowledge present within the profession of Project Management. The PMBOK® provides a framework for guidelines, rules and characteristics of Projects across industries. Its standards are widely accepted and when, consistently applied, help you and your organization achieve professional excellence. The knowledge, standards and practices framed within the Project Management Guide, are applicable to most of the Projects, most of the times in most of the industry verticals.

The Project Management Guide is all about processes, their interactions, integration and their interface points. The process interactions defined are a variation of the Deming’s Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. The PMBOK® also serves to promote and establish a common vocabulary for the Project Management Profession. The guide suggests tools and techniques for each process as well as provides a basis for defining inputs and outputs for the same. It defines the basic concepts of Project, Project Management, Role of Project Manager in different Organizational Structures, Project Management phases and the Project Life Cycle.  The guide provides a comprehensive approach to balance the project constraints, which include, but are not limited to

• Scope
• Quality
• Schedule
• Budget
• Resources and
• Risk

The PMBOK® in its 5^th edition is structured around 5 Process Groups viz. Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling and Closing. Further 10 Knowledge areas are mapped to the 5 Process Group by unique individual Processes. The 10 Knowledge Areas are as under

• Project Integration Management
• Project Scope Management
• Project Time Management
• Project Cost Management
• Project Quality Management
• Project Human Resource Management
• Project Communications Management
• Project Risk Management
• Project Procurement Management
• Project Stakeholder Management

The Project Stakeholder Management is an addition in the PMBOK® 5^th edition. In the earlier edition Project Stakeholder Management was part of the Project Communication Management Knowledge Area. The 5^th edition defines 47 processes around the Process Groups and Knowledge Areas, which are 5 more than those in the previous edition.

Aside from laying down guidelines and Practices to deliver Projects, the Project Management Guide also provides a pointer to the expected Interpersonal Skills for a Project Manager. According to the PMBOK® the 3 tenets: Knowledge, Performance and Personal Skills are the 3 legs of a tri-pod on which successful projects are shaped. The Guide provides an exhaustive list of the required Interpersonal Skills and suggests ways of honing those skills to maximize Team Performance.  

The Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge is thus the most comprehensive resource for the budding Project Management Professional.  It holds the Final Word on how Projects are managed. That being the case, it does not advocate following the processes as a rigid diktat, but rather suggests adopting the processes with the vigour and fervour as required by the respective Project to be decided by the Project Manager.

Facts on Change Control Management

Change Management, often called Change Control, is simply the process of managing most changes that can have positive OR negative effects on any environment- be it a small organization or a large one, be it department like IT, Human Resources, or a group of functions, or simply the internal way of doing things from day to day.

Change control is a systematic approach to managing all changes to a product, process or system. The purpose is to ensure that no unnecessary changes are made, that all changes are documented, that services or products are not unnecessarily disrupted & resources are used efficiently.

Change is nature’s way of saying that what worked earlier may no longer fit the requirements. This may be for a variety of reasons like

• Simple Evolution – In a lot of ways, change is evolutionary. Change is built in to the DNA of almost all things around us. Be it sooner or later, change manifests itself in various forms and shapes to affect what is done, how it is done, when it is done, or by whom.
• Change as a survival tactic - If the organization does not keep up the pace with changing technology, consumer demands, and effective business processes, they will lose their competitive edge.
• Environment induced change – Changes are often induced by the macro or micro environment requiring the organization to keep pace or be left behind.
• Business / internal changes – These often relate to changes brought about by change in business environment, may it be adding new products / services, upgrading / downgrading, addition or discontinuation, acquiring new business or increasing capacity

1. Long term corporate objectives - Corporate objectives that go beyond the conventional statements of quantified goals like % growth rate or return on investment or profit %
2. Culture and value - Values relating to high standards of performance and work ethics reinforced among employees.
3. Management style - The extent of delegation & decentralization. Is delegation encouraged, and does it take place without interference in the delegated task?
4. Business strategy - Are the company’s functional (eg finance, personal, R & D etc.), strategies consistent with each other?
5. Organisational structure - Structure resulting in clarity of relationships and simplicity
6. Management system - Structure allowing for problems solving and entrepreneurship
7. Quality of human resources - The extent of motivation and level of morale and commitment among employees especially lower level operatives.
8. Working climate and Leadership - The ability of the employees to share credit and recognition for achievement as a group rather than as individuals.

• Indirect changes – Changes that are brought about by factors not planned earlier, like change in regulatory environment, local laws, societal demands, gap between expected & actual performance, an unplanned change in other inputs, etc.

Change will inevitably happen. However, in order to benefit from change we need to know how to manage it effectively.

Usually, change occurs because a problem exists or in response to prevent a problem from occurring in future, and there is a clear idea for a better way to do work.  While this sounds fairly easy, it often can be quite complicated and frustrating. Without a change control process in place, efforts can easily go awry leading to reinforcement of popular misgivings about change management.

Proper change management is akin to management foresight.  The need for change is a foregone conclusion, how change is managed is often the critical deciding factor for success or failure.

That being so, for a variety of reasons, change is not always taken positively by people whose very existence depends on the change itself.  As it often happens, change means encountering resistance. People, sometimes key people in key positions, protect the status quo, and often resist changes, no matter how slight they may be.  

• Some folks are afraid of change in and of itself, commonly known as fear of unknown

• Some people are afraid of losing their control over a system or method

• Some people find no profit from changing a system that they see as working adequately

• People may fear that change may lead to social or economic disruptions

• People may fear that work group norms & harmony may get disrupted due to change efforts

• History of change efforts gone wrong may lead to people drawing similarities and hasty conclusions

ITIL Capacity Management

In ITIL capacity management process ensures that the appropriate IT infrastructure is offered at the correct time with suitable price and volume.

Capacity management process stretches across the service lifecycle. Main success factor in managing capacity is to make sure that it is considered during the design stage. Capacity management provides a focal point and management for all performance and capacity related issues.

Like availability, capacity is also a crucial part regarding the warranty of a service. If a service does not deliver the levels of capacity and performance required, then the business will not experience the value that has been promised. Without capacity and performance the utility of the service cannot be accessed.

 Purpose of Capacity Management Process:

Main purpose of Capacity management process is to make sure that the IT infrastructure and the capacity of IT services reach the agreed capacity and performance levels in a cost-effective and timely manner. Main concern of Capacity management is to meet both the current and future capacity and very importantly the performance needs of a business.

Objectives of Capacity Management Process:

Maintaining and producing an improved, updated and appropriate capacity plan, echoing the current and future needs of business

• Providing guidance and suggestions to other areas of the business and IT on all capacity and performance related issues
• Making sure that service performance achievements reach their agreed targets by managing the capacity and performance of both resources and services
• Helps with the diagnosis and resolution of capacity and performance related issues
• Estimating the impact of all changes on the capacity plan.
• Making sure that proactive measures are taken to improve the performance of services.

Value to Business:

• Enhancing and refining the performance and availability of IT services and  the business needs by assisting to mitigate capacity and performance related problems and incidents
• Makes sure that required capacity and performance are provided in a very cost-effective manner ensuring that there is no negative impact on the quality of services provided.
• Contribution towards improved customer satisfaction and user productivity by making sure that all performance and capacity related issues and levels are taken care of.
• Providing support for efficient and effective design and transition of new or changed services.
• Enhancing the dependency of capacity related budgeting through the use of a future capacity plan based on a better view point and understanding of business needs and plans

Scope of Capacity Management Process:

The capacity management process should be the point of focus for all IT performance and capacity issues. Capacity management takes into consideration all resources which are required to deliver the IT service.

 Some of the important activities of Capacity management are:

• Running the tuning activities to ensure the efficient use of existing IT resources
• Having a clear head about the agreed current and future demands which are being made by the customer for IT resources.
• Manipulating the demand in relation with the financial management for IT services.
• Giving out a capacity plan that will enable the service provider to continue, in order to provide services of the quality as per SLAs.

ITIL Change Management

Change is a very important aspect of growth .Error free functioning of the information technology sector relies a lot on such tools which lead to better utilization of resources without flaws.

The Change management process is responsible for assuring that the changes which are taking place in an organization are being monitored throughout the stages, this mitigates the chances of errors and no such area is left unturned which can cause any un-convince.

Change management is step wise approach to make sure that each step is covered, so that changes are implemented efficiently and effectively. A change can be as simple as a process change or major things like policy and strategy changes.

It is very important to choose ITIL change management tools according to the needs and preferences. The first step should be to evaluate the purpose and then decide on, which option is the most appropriate.

The three different aspects of Change management include: Versatility, controlling the change, and affecting the change.

Versatility is one the very important aspects. This means that you need to select software which has the capability to run on various platforms. This will allow a greater flexibility and ease of operation.

An enthusiastic approach to deal with changes is at the core of all three aspects i.e. Versatility, controlling the change, and affecting the change. For an organization, change management is defining, describing and implementing technologies or procedures in order to deal with the changes in business and surely to gain profit from the changing opportunities.

A Successful adaptation to change is as important in a business organization as it is in nature, like plants and animals, individuals and organizations inevitably face changes and they don’t have a control over these changes. If we are able to deal with the change successfully, the success is inevitable.

Adaptation no doubt involves establishing an organized methodology for responding to changes in the business environment or else we can establish the coping mechanisms like new technologies or policies, so that we can respond to changes in the workplace successfully.

There is an entity which initiates a change and that major entity is known as the Request -for-Change (RFC).

What is a change request?

RFC is a formal communication asking for a modification, addition and removal or deregistration to base-lined (CI) s Configuration Item(s). It is very important to define changes on a broad spectrum a closed approach for defining change is not effective at all. We surely need many templates to cover up different types, areas and flavors of change. It is important that a RFC (change request) should be very descriptive about the change details like the purpose, impacts on other CIs and risks.  

The ITIL version 3 defines three types of changes i.e. normal change, standard change and emergency change.

ITIL defines a normal change as a change which should follow the complete change management process; it will go through all the steps of change management and at the end will be reviewed by the CAB (change advisory board)

The ITIL description of a Standard Change is;

An infrastructural change which is recurrent and follows a conventional path, and has got a pre-defined procedure or solution to a specific requirement or set of requirements"

Emergency changes, as the name itself suggest that it has got no pre-defined path to follow neither it will go through the complete change management process. It works according to the gravity of a change.

ITIL Identity management

Identity management is purely an administrative area that deals with providing and controlling the access to the rightful users. Identity management protects and saves the information, enables continuity in business and lowers the risks.

Identity management is purely an administrative process, here the main responsibility areas of a team is to pin point the people in a system, a country, a network or an organization. From here starts the procedure of keeping an eye on their activities and controlling their access to resources within the system by means of restrictions and user rights.

Identity and Access Management

“IAM” Identity management and access management has come up as a very crucial factor for realizing the benefits of business in terms of management control, operational efficiency, cost saving and on top comes the management of business growth for E-commerce. A very important thing that comes into play is, managing access for information and applications across internal and external application systems.

IAM is a combination of people, processes and products which deals with the management of access and identities to resources of an organization.  Organizations need to ensure the accuracy of data so that IAM Framework functions properly.

Main agenda of IAM framework is to provide appropriate access to appropriate people at appropriate time.

Identity management system

Identity Management System (IDMS) raise the productivity by making the users' experiences with internal computing facilities much easier. IDMS decreases the operating cost and tightens the strings for overall computing security by supporting a central control on computing administration and computing resources.

As IDMS makes the users' experiences simple with internal computing facilities. So users need not to get troubled with so many things and passwords the only thing user need is, to remember single user IDs and single passwords in order to access authorized applications. The users can effortlessly access many applications from an access dashboard without re-login. The best part is that users can update profiles centrally without updating the profile in each application.

Online Identity management system

Online identity management is the process of guarding and molding cyber footprint or online identity. This process is very important for protecting and promoting the online reputation. Many Internet users need not to manage their online presence or engage in virtual personal reputation management, as they already hold a position that involves marketing their name online in a professional capacity.

In many cases online identity management is utilized to separate professional identities from that of personal.

People who are interested in online identity management should take into consideration a number of steps, in order to create or improve their virtual reputation, irrespective of the fact it being professional or personal.

So many people form blogs and websites dedicated to their objective or brand. Social networking websites is another way which is used a lot these days, it offers innovative and simpler way to increase online visibility by creating profiles and pages dedicated to the brand. Hence, this has emerged as a great opportunity to educate viewers and users about their brand and purpose.

Authentication

Authentication is a process of confirming the truth of an attribute of an entity. This process involves confirming the identity of a person /software program(s).This process of authentication  also includes tracing the origins of the artifact, or ensuring that a product is what it’s packaging and labeling claims to be. In other words, authentication is a process that involves verifying the validity of at least one form of identification. Authentication is in fact verification that the users claimed identity is valid.

The three general factors used for authentication are: something a person knows, something the person has and something a person is. The testing or reconciliation of evidence of a users identity. It establishes the users identity and ensures that the users are who they say they are.

Authentication can also be defined as a process that ensures and confirms a user’s identity. The five pillars of information assurance are integrity, availability, confidentiality, non-repudiation and authentication. Authentication is one of the five pillars.

Single-factor authentication

Single-factor authentication is the employment of one of the above mentioned factors.

Two-factor authentication

Two-factor authentication is employed when elements representing two factors are required for authentication; the term two-factor authentication is applied. Example: A bank debit card (something the user has/possess) and a PIN (something the user knows). Business networks may require users to provide a password (knowledge factor) and a pseudo random number from a security token (ownership factor). Access to a very-high-security system might require a mantrap screening of height, weight, facial, and fingerprint checks (several inherence factor elements) plus a PIN and a day code (knowledge factor elements), but this is still a two-factor authentication.

Multi-factor authentication

Multi-factor authentication is as an approach to security authentication, which requires that the user of a system provide more than one form of verification in order to prove their identity and allow access to the system.

Password

A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for user authentication to prove identity, or for access approval to gain access to a resource.

Passwords are a common practice for validating a user’s identity during the authentication process. This one-time passwordŽ provides maximum security because a new password is required for each new logon. A password that is the same for each logon is called a static password. A password that changes with each logon is termed a dynamic password.

A passphrase is a sequence of characters that is usually longer than the allotted number for a password. The passphrase is converted into a virtual password by the system.

A cognitive password is based on a user’s opinion or life experience.

The security of a password-protected system depends on several factors. The overall system must, of course, be designed for sound security, with protection against computer viruses, man-in-the-middle attacks and the like. Physical security issues are also a concern, from deterring shoulder surfing to more sophisticated physical threats such as video cameras and keyboard sniffers.

Passwords are vulnerable to interception (i.e., "snooping") while being transmitted to the authenticating machine or person. If the password is carried as electrical signals on unsecured physical wiring between the user access point and the central system controlling the password database, it is subject to snooping by wiretapping methods. If it is carried as packetized data over the Internet, anyone able to watch the packets containing the logon information can snoop with a very low probability of detection.

Emails are mainly used to distribute passwords. As we know most emails are sent as cleartext, password is available without effort during transport to any eavesdropper. Further, the email will be stored on at least two computers as cleartext i.e. on the sender's and the recipient's computer. If it passes through intermediate systems during its travels, it will probably be stored on those as well, at least for some time. Attempts to delete an email from all these vulnerabilities may, or may not, succeed; backups or history files or caches on any of several systems may still contain the email. Indeed merely identifying every one of those systems may be difficult. Emailed passwords are an insecure method of distribution.

Biometrics

An alternative to using passwords for authentication in logical or technical access control is biometrics. Biometrics is based on the Type 3 authentication mechanism: something you are. Biometrics refers to the identification of humans by their characteristics or traits. Biometrics is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. Biometrics is used for identification in physical controls and for authentication in logical controls.

There are three main performance measures in biometrics:

False Rejection Rate (FRR) or Type I Error

The percentage of valid subjects that are falsely rejected

False Acceptance Rate (FAR) or Type II Error

The percentage of invalid subjects that are falsely accepted

Crossover Error Rate (CER) or Equal Error Rate (EER)

The percent in which the FRR equals the FAR

Product authentication

A Security hologram label on an electronics box for authentication. Counterfeit products are often offered to consumers as being authentic. Counterfeit consumer goods such as electronics, music, apparel, and Counterfeit medications have been sold as being legitimate. Efforts to control the supply chain and educate consumers to evaluate the packaging and labeling help ensure that authentic products are sold and used.

Video authentication

It is sometimes necessary to authenticate the veracity of video recordings used as evidence in judicial proceedings. So video authentication is a process which ascertains that the content in a given video is authentic and exactly same as when captured. For verifying the originality of received video content, and to detect malicious tampering and preventing various types of forgeries, performed on video data, video authentication techniques are used.

 A video authentication system ensures the integrity of digital video and verifies that whether the given video has been tampered or not. But in most of the cases, especially in the court of law, it may be more beneficial if the authentication system can tell where the tampering happens and how the video is tampered.

Digital signature

A digital signature or digital signature scheme is a mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. The purpose of digital signatures is to detect unauthorized modifications of data and to authenticate the identity of the signatories and non-repudiation.

A digital signature scheme typically consists of three algorithms:

A key generation algorithm that selects a private key uniformly at random from a set of possible private keys. The algorithm outputs the private key and a corresponding public key. A signing algorithm that, given a message and a private key, produces a signature. A signature verifying algorithm that, given a message, public key and a signature, either accepts or rejects the message's claim to authenticity.

Two main properties are required. First, a signature generated from a fixed message and fixed private key should verify the authenticity of that message by using the corresponding public key. Secondly, it should be computationally infeasible to generate a valid signature for a party who does not possess the private key.

Challenge–Response Authentication

In computer security, challenge–response authentication is an authentication process that verifies an identity by requiring correct authentication information to be provided in response to a challenge.

Challenge-response authentication is a group or family of protocols characterized by one entity sending a challenge to another entity. The second entity must respond with the appropriate answer to be authenticated.

A simple example of this is password authentication. The challenge is from a server asking the client for a password to authenticate the client's identity so that the client can be served.

Challenge-response tokens

A workstation or system generates a random challenge string, and the owner enters the string into the token along with the proper PIN. The token generates a response that is then entered into the workstation or system. The authentication mechanism in the workstation or system then determines whether the owner should be authenticated.

Authentication Part-II

Product authentication

Product authentication can be a security hologram label on a box of a product for authentication. Counterfeit products are often offered to consumers as being authentic. Counterfeit consumer goods such as electronics, music, apparel, and Counterfeit medications have been sold as being legitimate. Efforts to control the supply chain and educate consumers to evaluate the packaging and labeling help ensure that authentic products are sold and used.

Video authentication

It is sometimes necessary to authenticate the veracity of video recordings used as evidence in judicial proceedings. Therefore, video authentication is a process which ascertains that the content in a given video is authentic and exactly same as when captured. For verifying the originality of received video content, and to detect malicious tampering and preventing various types of forgeries, performed on video data, video authentication techniques are used.

 A video authentication system ensures the integrity of digital video and verifies that whether the given video has been tampered or not. But in most of the cases, especially in the court of law, it may be more beneficial if the authentication system can tell where the tampering happens and how the video is tampered.

Digital signature

A digital signature is a mathematical approach for demonstrating the authenticity of a digital message or document. The purpose of digital signatures is to detect unauthorized modifications of data and to authenticate the identity of the signatories and non-repudiation.

A digital signature scheme typically consists of three algorithms:

A key generation algorithm that selects a private key uniformly at random from a set of possible private keys. The algorithm outputs the private key and a corresponding public key. A signing algorithm that, given a message and a private key, produces a signature. A signature verifying algorithm that, given a message, public key and a signature, either accepts or rejects the message's claim to authenticity.

Two main properties are required. First, a signature generated from a fixed message and fixed private key should verify the authenticity of that message by using the corresponding public key. Secondly, it should be computationally infeasible to generate a valid signature for a party who does not possess the private key.

Challenge–Response Authentication

In computer security, challenge–response authentication is an authentication process that verifies an identity by requiring correct authentication information to be provided in response to a challenge.

Challenge-response authentication is a group or family of protocols characterized by one entity sending a challenge to another entity. The second entity must respond with the appropriate answer to be authenticated.

A simple example of this is password authentication. The challenge is from a server asking the client for a password to authenticate the client's identity so that the client can be served.

Challenge-response tokens

A workstation or system generates a random challenge string, and the owner enters the string into the token along with the proper PIN. The token generates a response that is then entered into the workstation or system. The authentication mechanism in the workstation or system then determines whether the owner should be authenticated.

Cryptography

Cryptography is the practice and study of using mathematical algorithm to encrypt and decrypt data. Cryptography enables you to store secret/sensitive information or transmit it across insecure networks (like the Internet) so that it cannot be read by third parties (called adversaries).

Plaintext

Data that we can read and understand without any special measures is known as plaintext or cleartext.

Ciphertext

The process of changing plaintext in such a way as to hide its substance is called encryption. Encrypting plaintext results in unreadable gibberish called ciphertext.

Cryptanalysis

Cryptanalysis is the practice and study of analyzing and breaking secure communication. Classical cryptanalysis involves an interesting combination of analytical reasoning, application of mathematical tools, pattern finding, patience, determination, and luck.

Types of Ciphers

Modern encryption methods can be divided by two criteria:

• By type of key used
• By type of input data

By type of key used ciphers are divided into:

• Symmetric key algorithms (Private-key cryptography)
• Asymmetric key algorithms (Public-key cryptography)

By the type of input data ciphers are divided into:

• Block ciphers
• Stream ciphers

Symmetric-key algorithms or Conventional cryptography

Conventional cryptography is also called secret-key or symmetric-key encryption. Symmetric-key algorithms are a class of algorithms for cryptography that use the same cryptographic keys for both encryption of plaintext and decryption of ciphertext.

The following are examples of symmetric algorithm:

• Data Encryption Standard (DES)
• Triple- DES
• Blowfish
• IDEA (International Data Encryption Algorithm)
• RC4 , RC5 and RC6
• AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)

The following are strength and weakness of symmetric-key algorithms / systems:

Strength

• If we use large key size they are hard to break
• They are faster as compared to asymmetric key algorithms

Weakness

• Key management is a challenge
• This system provides confidentiality only
• Requires an out of band / secure mechanism to deliver key

Asymmetric key algorithms

Asymmetric key algorithm is also known as public-key cryptography. They refer to a class of  cryptographic system requiring two separate keys, one of which is secret and one of which is public. Public key cryptography is an asymmetric scheme that uses a pair of keys for encryption: a public key, which encrypts data, and a corresponding private, or secret key for decryption.

The following are examples of asymmetric algorithm:

• DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm)
• El Gamal
• Diffie Hellman
• ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem)
•  RSA

The following are strength and weakness of asymmetric-key algorithms / systems:

Strength

• It provides authentication and non-repudiation
• Better key distribution as compared to symmetric systems
• Better scalability

Weakness

• It works slower than symmetric key algorithm

Block Cipher

A block cipher is a deterministic algorithm operating on fixed-length groups of bits, called blocks, with an unvarying transformation that is specified by a symmetric key. Block ciphers are important elementary components in the design of many cryptographic protocols, and are widely used to implement encryption of bulk data.

A strong cipher contains the right level of two main attributes i.e. confusion and diffusion. Confusion is commonly carried out through substitution and diffusion uses transposition.

Stream Cipher

A stream cipher is a symmetric key cipher where plaintext digits are combined with a pseudorandom cipher digit stream (keystream). In a stream cipher each plaintext digit is encrypted one at a time with the corresponding digit of the keystream, to give a digit of the cyphertext stream.

With stream ciphers the bits generated by the keystream generator are XORed with the bits of the plaintext message.

Brief overview of various types of Budgeting

Budgeting refers to making a detailed financial plan that quantifies future expectations and actions relative to using existing resources and acquiring new resources.

Budgeting can take various forms and can provide the basis for setting up detailed sales targets, staffing plans, inventory production, cash management, borrowings, capital expenditure etc. Budgeting provides benchmark to compare actual results and to accordingly develop corrective measures.

Different types of Budgeting that is undertaken in an organization are as follows:

Financial Budgeting:

• Financial Budgeting for an organization refers to forecasting income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement for future years.
• Financial Budgeting also refers to preparing budget for capital expenditure, corporate budgets, sales/ revenue budget, cash budget etc.
• Financial Budgeting is crucial for management to estimate financial position of the company for the period under consideration and for investors to get an insight on the future performance.

Corporate Budget:

• Corporate Budgeting refers to planning of financial budgets by a company and implanting the same in its operations.
• In developing the corporate budget, an underlying business strategy is followed which is finalized by the management of the organization.
• Typically corporate budget is prepared by collating information from all business units and discussions with business heads.

Capital Budget:

• Capital Budgeting refers to the planning process in which a company takes a decision for its long term investments i.e. investment in plant & machinery, investment in fixed assets, investment in new projects etc.
• Capital Budget is generally prepared considering the financial budget, long term requirements of the company and financial resources available to the company in that period.
• The management’s aim in capital budgeting is to maximize shareholder’s value while selecting a project/ investment opportunity. There are various tools which are used for capital budgeting e.g. Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Real options etc.
• NPV of an investment is project is the PV of expected cash inflows with the project less the PV of projected cash outflows, discounted at a suitable cost of capital.
• IRR is defined as the rate of return that matches the PV of an investment’s expected inflows with the PV of its outflows.

Sales Budget/ Revenue Budget:

• Sales budget refers to forecasted sales volumes and is influenced by previous sales patterns, current and expected economic conditions, activities of competitors etc.
• Sales Budget is also complemented by resulting expected cash collections.

Expenditure Budget:

• Expenditure budget refers to forecasted expenditure for planned expenditure which is influenced by  composition of fixed costs and variable costs, production levels, marketing budgets, forecasting of general and administrative expenses etc
• Expenditure budget is also benchmarked with competitors to optimize the available resources.

Productions Budget:

• Productions Budget (which has direct correlation to sales budget) refers to setting up production targets in line with the forecasted sales keeping in view the existing inventory levels.
• Production is a function of beginning finished goods inventory and desired ending finished goods inventory.
• The budgeted units of production can be calculated as number of units sold, plus the desired ending finished goods less the beginning finished goods inventory.

Cash Flow/Cash Budget:

• Cash budget refers to forecasting all the future cash receipts and cash payments of a business for a specified period.
• Cash Budget is crucial for construction businesses as they provide the estimated cash surplus/ deficit over a period of time.
• Company’s subsequently plan for meeting any cash deficit by drawing short term loans from financial institutions.

Marketing Budget:

• Marketing Budget refers to planning for different forms/ mode of marketing required for a specific product/ entire organization.
• The budget is subsequently prepared by summing up the expenditure forecasted on various mediums of marketing for the specified period.
• Marketing Budget also depends on the product life cycle and level of completion that is expected in the future periods.

Project Budget

• Project Budget refers to planning the budgeting activity for a specific project i.e. forecasting project related revenues, project related expenditures, capital investments in the project etc.
• Project budgets are required while deciding project financing opportunities which require finalization of project cost and means of finance.
• Individual project budgets are subsequently consolidated at the corporate level to prepare overall financial budget for the organization.

Definition: Business valuation is a process and a set of procedures used to estimate the economic value of an owner’s interest in a business. Valuation is used by financial market participants to determine the price they are willing to pay or receive to perfect a sale of a business. In addition to estimating the selling price of a business, the same valuation tools are often used by business appraisers to resolve disputes related to estate and gift taxation, divorce litigation, allocate business purchase price among business assets, establish a formula for estimating the value of partners' ownership interest for buy-sell agreements, and many other business and legal purposes.

The field of business valuation encompasses a wide array of fields and methods. The tools and methods can vary between valuators, businesses and industries. Common approaches to business valuation include review of financial statements, discounting cash flow models, and similar company comparisons.

How to Value a Business?: How much your business is worth depends on many factors, from the current state of the economy through your business’s balance sheet. Let me say up front that I do not believe that business owners should do their own business valuation. This is too much like asking a mother how talented her child is. Neither the business owner nor the mother has the necessary distance to step back and answer the question objectively. So to ensure that you set and get the best price when you're selling a business, I recommend getting a business valuation done by a professional.

Different methods of corporate valuation (financial valuation or market relative valuation)

1. Asset-based approaches: Basically these business valuation methods total up all the investments in the business. Asset-based business valuations can be done on a going concern or on a liquidation basis.

• A going concern asset-based approach lists the business net balance sheet value of its assets and subtracts the value of its liabilities.
• A liquidation asset-based approach determines the net cash that would be received if all assets were sold and liabilities paid off.

2. Earning value approaches: These business valuation methods are predicated on the idea that a business's true value lies in its ability to produce wealth in the future. The most common earning value approach is Capitalizing Past Earning. With this approach, a valuator determines an expected level of cash flow for the company using a company's record of past earnings, normalizes them for unusual revenue or expenses, and multiplies the expected normalized cash flows by a capitalization factor. The capitalization factor is a reflection of what rate of return a reasonable purchaser would expect on the investment, as well as a measure of the risk that the expected earnings will not be achieved.

• Discounted Future Earnings is another earning value approach to business valuation where instead of an average of past earnings, an average of the trend of predicted future earnings is used and divided by the capitalization factor.

What might such capitalization rates be? : It is quiet subjective well established businesses with a history of strong earnings and good market share might often trade with a capitalization rate of, say 12% to 20%. Unproven businesses in a fluctuating and volatile market tend to trade at much higher capitalization rates, say 25% to 50%.

3. Market value approaches: Market value approaches to business valuation attempt to establish the value of your business by comparing your business to similar businesses that have recently sold. Obviously, this method is only going to work well if there are a sufficient number of similar businesses to compare.

Although the Earning Value Approach is the most popular business valuation method, for most businesses, some combination of business valuation methods will be the fairest way to set a selling price.

Valuation of closely held company/Minority ownership (Small business valuation): In valuing a minority, non-controlling interest in a business, however, the valuation professional must consider the applicability of discounts that affect such interests.

• Discount for lack of control: The first discount that must be considered is the discount for lack of control, which in this instance is also a minority interest discount. Minority interest discounts are the inverse of control premiums
• Discount for lack of marketability: Another factor to be considered in valuing closely held companies is the marketability of an interest in such businesses. Marketability is defined as the ability to convert the business interest into cash quickly, with minimum transaction and administrative costs, and with a high degree of certainty as to the amount of net proceeds. There is usually a cost and a time lag associated with locating interested and capable buyers of interests in privately held companies, because there is no established market of readily available buyers and sellers. All other factors being equal, an interest in a publicly traded company is worth more because it is readily marketable. Conversely, an interest in a private-held company is worth less because no established market exists.

Fundamentals and Application of Corporate Finance Practices in Organizations

Corporate finance refers to financial decisions carried out by organizations through implementation of suitable financial strategies with a single goal of maximizing shareholder value.

Broadly corporate finance activities can be divided into three categories:

1. Capital Investment & Financing Decisions
2. Working Capital Management
3. Risk Management and Investment Banking

Investment Decisions:

• Capital investment decisions refer to suitable allocation of financial resources to the contemplated activities of the firm. The long term allocation of resources/ capital investment is also referred as capital budgeting where a firm decides upon investing in a Greenfield or Brownfield project / fixed asset / equipment etc.
• The decision to accept or reject a project is primarily based on the outcome on shareholders’ wealth. A project is accepted only when it is expected to increase/ maximize the shareholders’ wealth relative to other opportunities / alternate projects.

Financing Decisions:

• Financing decision of a company plays a crucial role in selection of new projects and in optimizing available resources. The aim of the financing decisions is to attain an optimum capital structure of a firm.
• Capital structure refers to how a company finances its overall operations and growth by a mix of debt and equity instruments. Adequate mix of debt and equity can reduce the cost of capital for a particular firm. A project can be financially viable if it meets the return expectations of the investors as reflected in the cost of capital.
• Altering capital structure refers to changing mix of debt and equity i.e. changing cost of capital, which in turn determines the acceptance or rejection of an investment decision (investment decision and financing decision are intricately linked)

Working Capital Management:

• Working capital is a financial metric which indicates capital available for meeting short term liquidity needs of the firm. The working capital of a firm can be defined as excess of long term sources over long term uses. It can also be defined as current assets less current liabilities.
• A firm (assuming manufacturing unit) requires inventory in the form of raw material, finished goods, fuel, spares etc. and has debtors to who it sells its products. By adequate management of inventory and debtors, a company can overcome its short term liquidity problems.
• Inventory management refers to controlling and overseeing of storage, order and other activities leading to least depletion of resources and adequate availability of inventory for carrying out regular business activity.
• Debtors’ management refers to better utilization of debtor cycle by allowing least possible to time in collection of revenue. In a crude way, debtors’ management also refers to conversion of revenue to cash in the least possible time which improves a company’s liquidity position.

Risk Management:

• Risk management in a firm refers to the process of identification and mitigation of various types of risk referring to investment related risk, financing risk, business risk and other risks arising out of regular course of business.
• In a financial institution risks can be primarily categorized in to credit risk, market risk and operational risk. In general every organization faces risks related to assets, investments and its business which requires attention.
• Corporations develop risk management strategies which provide a coherent approach of identifying, assessing and managing risk. The strategy also builds on a process of continuously updating and reviewing the risk basement based on a feedback loop.

Investment Banking:

• Investment banking department in a firm/ corporate assists in raising various forms of capital and fund via issuance of bonds, debentures, equity, preferred stock etc. Investment banking in a firm’s context also refers to providing services like trading, cash management, forex management, investment in commodities and equity securities.
• Typically banks and specialized boutique firms provide investment banking services. However certain corporates also prefer to have an in-house team of investment bankers who assist in raising debt for specific projects, syndication of project debt, placement of equity offerings and dealing with investors.
• Investment banking teams can also assist in Mergers & Acquisitions advisory by identifying any target company or by defining the price band for an acquisition.

All the above mentioned tools/ activities act towards maximizing the shareholders value. Corporate finance accordingly involves interactions with all functions in an organization to understand and implement the best possible financial strategy to achieve the goal.

Change Control Management in Six Sigma

Change management and Change control are indisputably a Herculean task for an organization, if proper techniques are not employed. One major reason why it becomes so hard is that businesses fail to address the factors due to which the change initiatives fail. Changes always occur in businesses as organizations are striving hard to constantly evolve. Six Sigma change control plan makes it possible to overcome resistance to change. This tried and tested quality management methodology is ideal to improve quality, reduce errors, and enhance satisfaction levels of the potential customers as well. The change management and change control programs are commonly known as Continuous Improvement or Process Improvement programs. The Continuous Improvement programs are focused to elevate the degree of quality and revenue. Changes in business environment are required to be communicated, deployed and managed well and this can be done accurately with the aid of Six Sigma methodology.  Let’s get an idea about the Six Sigma change control system.

Developing an Alliance

The Six Sigma black belt certified quality management professionals are the captains of process improvement projects. With the efficient assistance of top-notch quality management tools, these professionals define, measure, analyze, improve and control the projects. In order to manage the organizational changes, the defined Six Sigma change management and change control techniques are being used. The process of change management also involves identifying the threats in the path of implementing the proposed changes. These kinds of transitions are led by the Black belt certified people with the effective assistance of stakeholders, sponsors, and valuable project team members.

Keeping the Goals clear

The Six Sigma change control initiatives should be spread out throughout the entire organization. Therefore, all the departments can set their individual targets. It is the responsibility of the Six Sigma black belt professionals to keep the goals clear as per the company’s vision. It is of paramount importance that each project team be clear about the individual goals. This practice keeps the entire team members motivated in order to embrace the vision. During the change control process, verification and validation is the job done by the black belt leaders. Also, they are required to communicate the company’s vision well, within the team.

Keep Track of Employee Performance

As per the experts of this field, the efficient use of change control template and the plan in order, enhance the quality of products and services which needs to align the project goals along with keeping track of personal development goals and of the team members too. Each team member plays a crucial role in the path of Six Sigma process improvement.

Sustain Alterations

Organizations should try and sustain the changes coming in their way of success. This unique quality of sustaining the changes brings in process improvement changes and creates a win-win situation for the companies striving hard to make it big in the marketplace. The change management and change control doesn’t come to an end when a new change occurs, in fact it continues. It is a part of continuous process improvement.

Quintessential features of Six Sigma Quality Assurance

Six Sigma quality assurance approach and methods have definitely set a benchmark for excellence. It has been done by simply raising the standards of quality through implementation of a methodical quality management approach. Quality system suggested by Six Sigma has created quite a buzz in almost every industry including healthcare, retail, BPO etc. These kind of state-of-the-art methods are developed with the sole objective of testing the important products and services to make sure that they are fulfilling the criteria of desired standards and customer’s expectations pertaining to the products are successfully met. With the ever increasing demand of quality products, total quality management has become the prime concern for organizations all over the world for survival and profitability.

Six Sigma approach is not only about ensuring quality in production, but also about promising and delivering quality. Promising quality is all about assuring the vital customers that the services and products being provided are of best quality. For delivering quality consistently, it is of paramount importance to adapt to the industry-approved testing techniques and methodologies. It is the job of quality assurance office to look after all such aspects of product development and deliver excellence. Let’s have a look at the roles and responsibilities of a quality assurance officer-

Roles and Responsibilities of Quality Assurance Officer

1. He is responsible to ensure the quality of products and services; and therby take care of entire process of QA in software development cycle.
2. It is a quality assurance officer’s lookout to maintain the high standards of a product or service.
3. One of the most important responsibility is that he has to improve the already set QA standards.
4. He is also responsible to over-view sales statistics and check out the possible drops in sales because of not-so-good quality of products and services.
5. It is the responsibility of the QA officer to make sure that the definition of quality is understood by all the employees to achieve the common goal.

With the passage of time, the quality assessment and testing techniques have undergone revolutionary changes. Therefore, it becomes crucial for a QA office to stay current and updated with the recent product launches, seminars and workshops in quality management domain. This practice can play a good role to maintain the technical knowledge and keep up with the rapidly growing QA standards. Often people consider quality control and quality assurance the same. In reality, there is a subtle difference in both the methods. As per the quality management system experts, quality control has more emphasis on the product concerned. On the other hand, QA is all about focusing on the process of developing it.

Difference between Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Quality Control

Well... quality control is considered as a system. It is comprised of routine processes and activities, which are specifically aimed to measure and control the overall quality of the concerned product and service. It also involves accuracy check to ensure zero-error in data calculations and estimating the uncertainties. The quality assurance check should be regular. This is how the QC system can ensure data correctness, completeness and also the integrity. One major part of QC is to distinguish errors and rectify them.

Quality Assurance

As mentioned above QA is a process, which is executed to meet the expectations of customers. There is a set of steps which are followed in order to attain the quality management goals. Six Sigma QA approach and quality infrastructure are gaining sky rocketing popularity in this domain as it is known to make use of a planned and systematic process for quality checks. It is done to prevent defects.

Today, a lot of emphasis is laid and will continue to be laid, on the pursuit of perfection, to improve quality. Ideally, businesses are heading towards a zero-defect world. In achieving this perfection, a quality assurance officer will play a crucial part, directly or indirectly.

Conclusion

Nowadays, every individual and business is on a constant pursuit of perfection. Hence, lot of emphasis is laid on quality of products and services delivered. There will be no exaggeration in stating that the modern business is naturally heading to a world with zero-defect. In such a scenario, quality assurance method can work wonders. Already, there is a huge demand for Software quality assurance, and its demand is rapidly growing in other industries as well.

What Quality Certifications Entail?

Earning software quality certification demonstrates professional level of competence in the principles and practices of quality management of products and services. It indeed brings potentially more rapid career advancements. When it comes to quality certifications, there is no quality management professional who is not aware of sky rocketing popularity of the Six Sigma methodology and approach. An organization aiming to get a robust foothold over the niche marketplace by delivering excellent quality not only knows the benefits of Six Sigma quality management but also tries to get the employees certified for the same. Once the company starts delivering products and services of high quality, success and fame follow it automatically.

Significance of Six Sigma Certification

By improving the quality of products and services, Six Sigma helps the company fetch more business in an effective manner. The documented results given by this outstanding quality management approach are the major enticement to go for quality certifications. In the initial days of popularity, it had been thought by many small sized businesses, that Six Sigma can only work for large organizations such as the Fortune 500 companies. However, it has been observed that for better and improved software testing quality, this methodology is significant for small to large scale business establishments. This methodology has also outlived the total quality management certification needs by improving product quality unexpectedly. It has now become the first choice of businesses around the world in order to upgrade their operations and reap optimum benefits.

What Six Sigma Certification entails?

This kind of quality certification involves learning the subject matter along with clearing a written proficiency test. It is done to display competency in today’s cut-throat environment. You need not worry about finding the course material, as it can be purchased from the leading professional training and consulting companies.

Why to get Six Sigma Certification?

There are various compelling reasons why an individual should get Six Sigma certified. First of all, holding the quality certifications demonstrates proficiency in the subject matter. Plus, it increases the potential to get a better hike in salary. Well, whether to get certified or not is a professional decision which is taken entirely by the person who has to undergo the training.

Different Levels of Quality Management Certification

There are different levels of Six Sigma certification. The candidate receives the certification on the completion of each level.  The different levels of certifications are:

1. Yellow Belts
2. Green Belts
3. Black Belts
4. MasterBlack Belts

Six Sigma Yellow Belt is the initial stage of mastering the art of quality management. The professionals holding Yellow Belt in Six Sigma methodology don’t get frequent opportunities to work on actionable points of any project, yet they are the key workers when it comes to quality control. Green Belt Six Sigma is the next step to unleash potential. The quality management professionals having Green Belt are known to have a valuable overview of crucial areas of a particular project. Mostly the dedicated project managers choose to go for the Black belt quality certifications and those who opt to do Master Black belt certifications are project quality consultants.

Certified tester Foundation Level

This certification is also used as a standard in the field of software testing which is an important part of quality management. This testing certification enables an individual to get distinguished as someone who is an expert of the best software testing techniques.

Investing on Strategic Enterprise Management

Prior to understanding enterprise management, let’s identify how an enterprise works across processes. An organization is comprised of various departments that together work towards achieving the organization’s set goal. An HR department hires human resources and defines their jobs, the payroll department manages the payment structure of employees, the sales department manages the sales and distribution process, the production department manages the inputs and outputs of a production, the finance department handles money involved across departments and so on. There are marketing teams who handle the promotional and marketing activities of an organization, the IT team handles the information server and security, the development team takes care of the website, the content team generates the content and more. Thus, there are a host of diverse departments that run an organization. Few of the listed can be eliminated based on the industry, and few are fixed departments within an organization across industries. Individual departments can be handled manually but when it comes to organizing and handling a complete enterprise management, things are really different. The task of managing departments at an enterprise level is very complex and the complexity increases along with the organization size. In order to simplify the processes and to manage diverse departmental data and work process, the enterprise management solutions (ERP) emerged. When started, ERP systems were focused towards enterprise management for bigger organizations but over the years, small and medium size companies too adopted ERP solutions towards better data and work management. There are many market leaders providing ERP software development solutions and SAP is one of the pioneers. SAP offers strategic enterprise management solutions for different process and areas in enterprises.

What is Strategic Enterprise Management?

SAP strategic enterprise management is a solution that is developed towards building an integrated system to manage diverse processes within an organization. The major goal is to integrate a single unified system to record each move of a department through organizing, planning, executing and controlling processes. Different enterprise management solutions are developed to support different departmental objectives such as HCM in enterprise management, SD in enterprise management, FI in enterprise management and so on. HCM in enterprise management involves all the tasks coming under human capital management on human resources department. Right from hiring employees to managing the employee’s lifecycle within an organization, everything is handled by this system. SD in enterprise management works towards managing the sales data and distribution details of an organization. On the other hand, FI in enterprise management manages the money involved in various departments in an organization. There are more strategic enterprise management solutions such as materials management, customer relationship management etc. developed by SAP for enterprises. The aim behind developing strategic enterprise management is to generate extension to the primary enterprise management systems based on in depth work processes such as risk management, strategy planning, performance monitoring, and communications management and so on. SAP Strategic enterprise management aims at delivering quick implementation of fresh solutions.

Components of SAP Strategic Enterprise Management

Business Planning and Simulation: One of the basic reasons behind developing strategic enterprise management solution is to monitor and manage the performance level of an organization. SAP SEM allows simulation tools to track business performance that helps in future planning and simulation of businesses.

Business Consolidation: This enables functionality for legally required consolidation by a particular organization. However, the management consolidations can be based on diverse organizational units and roles.

Business Information Collection: This enables a department in collecting detailed business information. Every detail of processes are tracked and recorded in a unified system that enhances future reference and work management.

Corporate Performance Monitor: As the term suggests, it is all about monitoring the performance of corporate solutions. The best practice here is using feedback form from business execution systems to measure the performance level.

Stakeholder Relationship Management: Success of a project lies in strong and clear interaction between all the stakeholders. The SAP SEM system enables to manage a unified interacting system where every stakeholders group participate and are aware of movements within organizations.

Thus, SAP strategic enterprise management makes sure that the performance of a business is measured using different methods based on which the future business plan is strategically build out. Thus SAP strategic enterprise management is an effective way to strengthen IT infrastructure to maximize business performance.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP as it is popularly referred to, is the term used to define software packages that are designed to support various business functions and objectives. ERP system generally includes software systems on manufacturing, order entry, warehouse management, transportation, sales and distribution and more. Since the time the computer was invented, there had been a continuous process moving towards improving work experience and lifestyle using the information system and ERP solutions is an attempt to do the same. ERP in simple terms is a method to integrate various processes and data within a single unified system. There are many enterprise resource planning systems offered by various pioneer business enterprises towards achieving organized structure and maintenance of databases across departments in organizations. After understanding what an ERP system is, let’s identify some other facts about ERP and ERP implementation.

ERP System over the years

When it was first invented in the year 1960, enterprise resource planning systems was concentrated on inventory control resulting in various ERP software solutions based on inventory control and management. Few years later, the focus shifted to manufacturing resources planning to organize distribution management activities in organizations. Moving further, many software solutions were developed covering areas of engineering, human resource management, sales and distribution, financial management, project management, customer relationship management and so on. It was then when the term Enterprise Resource Planning was coined owing to its growing relevancy across the enterprise requirements.

ERP Implementation in Businesses

ERP was confined to only big businesses when it started, however, over the years, small and medium size companies too adopted ERP implementation owing to its benefits and growing popularity. Corporations or organizations that manage a lot of data flowing can adopt ERP systems for better data management. There are different ERP solutions designed for different processes run through in organizations. The sales team can adopt ERP sales and distribution solutions to manage sales data in an organized way. The HR department can use HRM solution to maintain the human resource details including hiring, compensation, and payroll and so on. The finance department can use financial solutions in order to manage finances better in organizations. Thus, there are many ERP systems and solutions available for different processes in an organization. To implement an enterprise resource planning system, a careful design and structured operation is required. Ideally, smaller ERP systems take lesser time to be prepared as compared to larger ERP systems. Migration of data of a process to an ERP system is the most critical part in ERP implementation. There are few steps involved in migrating data to an ERP system; some of the steps are mentioned as below:

• Identifying the required data to be migrated
• Planning the time span for migration
• Building data templates
• Deciding on the data migration tools
• Selecting the data migration setups
• Archiving the required data

These are the steps involved in migrating data of a particular process to an ERP system. To master on ERP implementation, one requires both knowledge and hands on practice on enterprise resource solutions.

Merits and Demerits of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

The most striking advantage of implementing ERP systems is that data can be easily transferred from one place to another. Along with better data management, security of organization data too is ensured with ERP. Besides, there are other benefits such as swift recruitment process, fast customer delivery and so on that respective processes witness after using ERP systems. One of the major disadvantages of ERP implementation is the cost. Also at times, the software is so complex that it consumes more time in operating the same.

SAP ERP Solutions

There are different market leaders providing ERP solutions such as SAP ERP solutions, Oracle Corporation, Peoplesoft and more. SAP is one of the leading providers of enterprise resource planning solutions. Initiated with managing inventories in offices, SAP has developed various ERP systems across different processes in organizations. Some of the most popular SAP ERP system incudes software based on various modules such as SAP Human Capital Management (HCM), SAP Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SAP Sales and Distribution (SD), SAP Business Intelligence (BI) and many more. Experts advise professionals to go through SAP training in order to understand the complexities involved in implementing SAP ERP system towards deriving the maximum benefits for an organization from organized enterprise resource planning.

The number of enterprises grows every day and so does the competition. Every enterprise comprises of a few common departments and a few specific departments unique to the organization based on the industry. Departments like HR, Payroll, Finance, Admin etc. are common to enterprises across industries. On the other hand departments like Financial Accounting, Sales Team, and Online Marketing Team etc. are industry specific departments unique to some enterprises. Every department has their own set of data and documents that the team members manage at department levels. However, to manage all these data of different departments at an enterprise level is a big challenge. To manage the entire data of an enterprise is very difficult manually. To make this possible, there are enterprise resources planning solutions developed for better work processes and data organizational management at an enterprise level. SAP is a market leader in providing ERP systems. SAP has solutions for different processes such as SAP HCM module for HR department, SAP SD module for Sales department, SAP FI module for Finance department, SAP MM module for Product team and so on. SAP implementation on different enterprise structures results differently. While smaller enterprises might not wish to invest heavily on an ERP solution, for larger enterprises it can be one of the biggest necessities. Let’s identify the different types of enterprise structures and the impact of SAP implementation in the organizational structure in this post.

Major Types of Organizational Structure

• Single Entity
• Partnership
• Limited Company
• Social Enterprise Company

Single Entity: Running a business as a single entity comes under the legal organizational structure of sole trader. Such type of organizations are solely handled and managed by a single owner who invests money on it and is responsible for all profit or loss that comes as resultant. Setting up as a single entity is simpler than other enterprise structure. Loads of paper works, revenue division, accounting and business audits are eliminated from such types of enterprise structure. Being a sole trader, one will never require a SAP system to manage stuffs. However, things do not end as a sole trader. It continues to expand and making big. As the enterprise grows, the necessity for organizational management emerges. Being a sole trader, you will wish to track the entire processes of an enterprise through a unified system. SAP NetWeaver is the best option for sole trader as it manages different process through a single system and brings down cost of ownership.

Partnership: When two or more people run an organization, it is termed as partnership business. The amount of risks, investment, responsibilities, profit, loss and stakes are shared among the partners. The percentage of ownership varies based on different factors. There can be standard partnership, limited partnership and a limited liability partnership. For such an entity, enterprises can take up different SAP ERP system for different processes.

Limited Company: The legal organizational structure for limited company involves a lot of paper works and legal procedures. Such company’s limits liability and the owner’s personal assets are different from the company’s finances. Limited companies are generally built up through venture capital investments made by individuals or organizations. Such types of company involves good number of employees and tasks such as payroll structure, time management, HR management apart from other industry specific departments. SAP ERP solutions include software system for managing the data bases across different departments. SAP ERP system can be used for automatically tracking the payroll details, employee work timings and so on.

Social Enterprise Company: These types of companies are kind of limited companies that work for a social cause. The motive for working for a social cause is larger than profit making. At times social enterprise companies are much bigger in size and lots of legal data and processes need to be recorded. SAP systems serve good help in the thorough organizational management of such companies.

SAP implementation is effective for every organization but the type of system adopted should fulfill their requirement. Bigger organizations can handle SAP systems for different process while smaller organizations can adopt SAP NetWeaver to manage different process from the same space. It depends on the amount of investment enterprises are willing to make and also as per their requirement.

Microsoft Project is an application developed by Microsoft Technologies for better project management. This application offers various tools that help one throughout all the phases in project planning towards effective project results.

Once you've finished your initial planning - or if you haven't even started! - Use Microsoft Project 2010 to create and set up your project plan. You can then use Project's powerful features to more effectively manage your project.

Get an overview of MS Project in this video.

VIDEO AWAITED

Properly evaluating a project's status can be tricky.Good project planning and communication can avoid or mitigate these and other problems that arise in project execution.